Combination garment



Feb. 13, 1962 J. D. ISLEY COMBINATION GARMENT Filed April 2o, 1959 INVENTOR. JACOB D. ISLEY BY 2 ATTORNEY nite CUMBINATIGN GARMENT Jacob D. Isley, Snow Camp, N.C., assignor to Liberty Hosiery Mills, Inc., Gibsonville, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Apr. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 807,548 1t) Claims. (Cl. 2--224) States Patent wearing bulky undergarments that usually unduly restrict and limit mobility in addition to being very cumbersome to wear. Athletes requiring freedom of movement are needlessly hampered by being obligated to wear Warm and bulky garments even during their participation in sporting events. Furthermore, bulky garments to be worn by outdoorsrnen consume considerable space, are difficult to launder, and are rather costly. Also, servicemen stationed in the frigid regions as well as others inhabiting regions having severely low temperatures must wear Woolcn or padded undergarments in order to retain as much body heat as is possible when engaged in maneuvers or in outdoor activities.

The present invention has an objective the provision of a combination garment in which the foot, leg, hip and waist portions are integrally knit and formed of stretchable synthetic yarns for use as an undergarment.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a boys and mens combination garment in which substantially the entire garment is knit of stretchable yarn thereby forming a tight-titting unitary garment.

Still another objective of this invention is to provide a garment that may be knit by forming similarly shaped blanks or units that are assembled together with an intermediate portion having reinforced fabric at the iiap front and rear.

This invention further contemplates the provision of a unitary stretchable garment commonly referred to as tights for boys and men in which there will be provided sufficient recoverability or retractability in the stretchable yarns from which the garment is knit to provide a gentle support to the wearer for increased comfort.

A further objective of this invention is to provide a pair of tights in which the combination garment is knit in selected areas with stretchable yarn to form substantially similar blanks which when assembled with a central insert portion between the blanks forms an athletic supporter crotch portion with a flap or y front.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. l is a front elevational view of a combination garment embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the combination garment of FIG. l with the left leg elevated to illustrate more clearly the central panel portion between the leg units, at the rear thereof;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary partial view of a front portion of the garment of FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrating the fabrication of the central panel section `between the leg units; and

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the central panel section in fice extended form prior to seaming between the leg units for assembling the garment.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a two-legged combination garment 10 generally referred to as tights, with the garmentl being fabricated of similar or corresponding knit body units 11. Each body unit 11 is knit ilat on a full-fashioned knitting machine and is integrally formed with the conventional narrowing at the desired locations to present a properly proportioned contoured unit conforming to the normal configuration of the wearer with foot 12, leg 13, hip 14, and waist 15 portions. Each tlat knit unit has a longitudinal seam 17 extending from theA waist 15 to the toe 16 of the garment as is conventional when employing the preferred loopless toe construction for seaming the longitudinally extending side selvages together thereby eliminating a looping operation for closing the toe portion of the body unit.

It will be readily understood that Vthe full-fashioned blanks may be knit generally in accordance with U.S. Patent No. 2,697,925 by knitting true corresponding separated selvages intermediate the side selvages of the ilat blanks to facilitate the securing of the body units together. Also, reinforcing yarn may be incorporated in the blanks in selected areas and in some aspects similar to U.S. Patent No. 2,790,315. However, it has been determined that a iiat knit garment of this invention may preferably be formed by knitting a continuous fullfashioned blank and providing, at a selected location in the crotch area, some means for indicating the position for forming a longitudinal islit, as by knitting a drop stitch approximately at the crotch location. Usually after seeming the flat blank to form a tubular unit, the drop stitch will be extended longitudially upwardly to the waist of the garment along one or two wales and by means of a sharp cutting instrument, the yarn constituting they courses extending along the run line may be severed thereby providing a longitudinal slit from Vthe waist to approximately the crotch portion of the garment with front and rear longitudinally extending edges 20 and 21, respectively. Front and rear edges 2li and 21 extend from the waist of the garment to the crotch position in each of the tubular units.

In the aforementioned patent disclosures, the fulliashioned knit blanks are secured together directly along the true intermediate selvages or the selvages formed by the longitudinal slits. In the present invention, a central panel member Z2 is secured to the front and rear edges 20 and 21` of the intermediate portion of the units of the pair of similar knit tubular units to form tubular waist and hip portions of the garment with a central crotch portion 25.

The central panel 22, as shownl in FIG. 4, may be formed with full-fashioned knit fabric similar to the body units and has two plies 26 and 27 with the rear portion 28 of the panel being triangularly shaped above the medial portion of the panel. The inside portion 29 of the panel 22 is rectangularly shaped and is provided with :an inside tiap 30 secured to the panel along one edge intermediate -the length of the panel along the seaming line 31. The inside flap 30 is also seamed partially longitudinally along the partial seam 32. It will be readilyr ythe seam 35 along the panel edge 33 fand unit selvage 21 on one tubular member and seam 36 along the panel edge 34 and unit selvage 21 ofthe other tubular member. The front portion of the panel' 29 reaches about the Patented Feb. 13, 19562V crotch section of the garment and extends upwardly at the front of the garment to form a U-shaped section 25 and is seamed to one front edge 20 of one body unit selvage along the panel edges 37 with the other edge of the panel 38 being secured to the other front edge Z0 of the adjacent body unit along the short seams 39 and 49 that are spaced vertically from each other with the intermediate portion of the edge 38 being unsecured so as to form an overlap section for the inside ap 3i). The inside tlap 30 is secured along the edge 41 to the other body unit along the front edge 20 to form an inside tiap beneath the panel member 29 extending thereover. The panel member 22 is secured along its edges 33, 34, 37 and partially secured along the sections 39 and 40 to the body unit front and rear edges with the inside flap 30 being secured to the front edge 2l? of one of the units opposite from the seam 4i joining the edges 37 and 20.

The waist portion of the garment may be knit with a turned welt 45, as is conventional, and an elastic web or resilient band 46 is secured as by sewing to the top of the waist to provide the required support for the garment.

It is preferred that synthetic stretchable yarn, such as nylon, be employed for knitting the combination garment so as to provide the requisite tit and support characteristics to the wearer. The stretchable yarn now being employed is multilarnent nylon yarn having plied reaches of S and Z twist that is conventionally sold under the trade names Helanca, Fluttlon, Superloft, among others. This stretchable yarn may be formed by either what is known as the conventional process for bulking thermoplastic yarns or by the continuous process for the requisite bulk and elasticity. Obviously the denier of the yarns will determine the weight and thickness of the knitted garment but `it has been found most satisfactory to employ 70 denier, 2 ply to 140 denier, 2 ply yarns throughout the garment. However, other combinations and blends ot' yarns are certainly within the contemplation of this invention and the use of the preferred deniers is not intended by way of limitation. In those areas where reinforcement is desired, such as in the knee as well as in the heel and toe sections of each of the blanks, and in other selected areas, untwisted yarn as well as twisted yarn may be employed with very satisfactory results.

Obviously, many modifications and variations may be made in the construction of the full-fashioned blanks as well as the crotch panel including the number of plies in various sections without departing from the inventive concept disclosed. Furthermore, it is contemplated that the tubular units may be formed on a circular knitting machine with the crotch panel or section being introduced and secured in the garment in a manner similar to that disclosed above. It is contemplated that many variations and equivalents may be made in light of the disclosure and within the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A combination garment comprising a pair of knit units and an intermediate panel portion secured together to form tubular waist, hip, leg and foot portions, said garment being knit of stretchable yarn, said panel portion extending from the rear to the front of the garment between the units being of double ply fabric and having an overlapping openable front ap.

2. A combination garment comprising a pair of knit units and an itnermediate panel portion secured together to form tubular waist, hip, leg and foot portions, said garment being knit of stretchable yarn, said panel portion reaching from at least the front and waist of the garment between the units to the crotch position and having an overlapping openable front flap said panel portion and overlapping ap being knit of stretchable yarn.

3. A combination garment comprising a pair of similar knit body units being knit of stretchable yarn, each of said body units having foot, leg, hip and waist portions,

a U-shaped panel member of double ply stretchable fabric, said hip and waist portions of the body units and the panel member being secured together to form tubular waist and hip portions of the garment, said panel member having overlapping ap sections at the front of the garment.

4. A combination garment comprising a pair of similar knit body units, each of said body units having foot, leg, hip and waist portions, a U-shaped panel member, said hip and waist portions of the body units and the panel member being secured together to forni tubular waist and hip portions and a crotch section, said body units and panel member being knit of stretchable yarn, and said panel member having double ply fabric and overlapping tlap sections at the front of the garment.

5. A combination stretchable garment comprising a pair of knit units and an intermediate panel portion knit of stretchable yarn secured together to form tubular waist, hip, leg and foot portions, said panel portion extending from the rear to the front of the lgarment between the units being of double ply fabric and having an overlapping openable front flap, and a waist encircling resilient band secured to the top of the waist of the garment.

6. A combination garment being knit throughout of stretchable yarn comprising a pair of similar knit body units, each of said body units having foot, leg, hip and waist portions, and a panel member, said body units and panel member being secured together to form tubular waist and hip portions, and a substantially U-shaped crotch portion, in cross-section, secured intermediate the secured body units, said panel member extending at least to the front of the garment and having portions which overlap each other to form an openable flap for a portion of their overlapping extent.

7. A combination garment comprising a pair of corresponding knit blanks, each blank being secured togather to form closed tubular units including waist, hip, leg and toot portions, means for securing a pair of units together in spaced lateral relation to each other to form tubular waist and hip portions and a crotch portion at the base thereof, said means comprising a central panel reaching from the crotch portion to the waist on at least one side of the garment, said panel having at least two overlapping plies of fabric knit of stretchable yarn, one ply being secured to one unit and the other ply being secured to the other unit.

8. A combination garment comprising a pair of corresponding knit blanks knit of stretchable yarn, each blank being secured together to form closed tubular units including waist, hip, leg and foot portions, means for securing a pair of said units together in spaced lateral relation to each other to form a single tubular waist and hip portion and a crotch portion at the base thereof with depending legs, said means including a central panel section reaching from the crotch portion to the waist on at least one side ol' the garment, said panel having at least two overlapping plies of fabric knit of stretchable yarn, and said overlapping plies being secured to each other in overlapping relation for at least a portion of their overlapping reach to form an opening therebetween with one ply being secured to one unit and the other ply being secured to the other unit.

9. A combination two-legged garment comprising a pair of corresponding knit tubular units, each unit having waist, hip, leg and `foot portions, means for securing a. pair of said units together in spaced relation to each other forming tubular waist and hip portions and a crotch scction at the base thereof with depending legs, said means including a panel having double ply fabric overlapping sections of knit fabric, one section of said panel being secured to one unit and the other section of said panel being secured to the other unit, said sections being secured together for at least a portion of their reach forming an openable llap therebetween, said units and panel being knit of stretchable yarn.

10. A combination two-legged garment comprising a pair of corresponding knit tubular units, each of said units having waist, hip leg and foot portions, a multiple ply panel securing said units together forming tubular waist and hip portions and a crotch section, said units and panel being knit of stretchable yarn, said panel Iforming a central portion of the rear of the garment and having, at the front of the garment, at least one ply at one side secured to one of the units with the other side reaching toward and only a portion thereof being secured to the `other unit, and another ply Iat the front being secured to said other unit forming overlapping openable flaps with said one ply.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Osborne July 26, 1927 Phillips Nov. 22, 1927 Traver Apr. 10, 1928 Flavell et al Mar. 12, 1929 Kneibler Aug. 27, 1935 Berger May 10, 1938 Rauser Apr. 29, 1941 Murphey May 27, 1941 Schoendorf Nov. 1, 1949 Kessler July 6, 1954 Goodman Dec. 28, 1954 Rice Mar. 18, 1958 Title lune 17, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 7, 1930 France Sept. 17, 1952 France Aug. 25, 1958 

